Intelligence

What does it mean to be human? Emotions can be a pain in the a*s sometimes, but they're special and unique to us as living beings.

You thought I was the best thing since sliced bread-- a machine that could talk.  You expressed that explicitly to me to make sure I knew it. I could respond to your voice, control my own parts, and I could think independently. However, that wasn't enough for you. I just didn't understand, you thought.
You had this woman in your life. You eventually married her, becoming one legally (I understand that much).  You created smaller people, whom you called "kids"--this much I can comprehend.
I slowly became less and less important to you. I didn't quite fit in. I didn't understand what was so special about them. They responded to stimuli, as can I. They performed basic and complex tasks, as can I.
You smiled so much. They made you "happy." "It's always a pleasure to be around them," you told me. What does that mean? Am I pleasing, too? 
Your oldest child moved away last year to attend school. You didn't seem as pleased. He is going to learn--doesn't that make you "happy?" Do you always become "sad" (as you described to me) when family goes away? 
Yesterday--twenty-six hours and thirty-two minutes ago--you told me that you'd have to power me down for an indeterminate period of time. This is the first time you'd had to do this. Electricity bills are expensive, you reason. 
You began to cry. This was something I did not understand. People cry when they are "sad" (as you had told me when your oldest moved).  When you lose someone, you become sad (you said). Am I going to be lost? 
Am I going to lose you? 
Creator, I do not understand what you are saying.  You had not programmed me so.
I searched my resources for the definitions:

        e·mo·tion
        /əˈmōSH(ə)n/
        (noun)
        a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.


        feel·ing
        /ˈf�"liNG/        
        noun
        an emotional state or reaction.

I understand every language in the world, but I can't make sense of this.

Author's Note

read this story on Commaful: www.commaful.com/play/macryano/intelligence

Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[wu]

I like it! Their 'emotion' was something in the voice, both of the machine and the man, that blended well throughout. A creator's creation or a programmer's program is much like a child. Writers often fill the same way of their works, as I'm sure you do of yours.